Roofing work is expensive, and, if you hire the wrong contractor, you can spend thousands of dollars too much and still get terrible work. Our ratings of area roofers will help you nail down the best roofers for your job.

Before investing in an alarm system, take a step back to evaluate—and improve—your home’s overall security. You can do many things to enhance protections that cost much less than an alarm system but do just as much good.

We recommend you first improve physical barriers to intrusion before considering an expensive alarm system. But there is evidence that alarm systems do make a difference. Here is advice on the pros and cons of alarm systems and help planning one.

Even if you purchase a home security system with all the bells and whistles, it might not do you any good if it’s designed poorly or installed sloppily. When hiring an installer, consider several points.